Match book with enclosed match heads and safety friction strip

ABSTRACT

A match book with flaps enclosing the match heads, and with a safety friction strip mounted to the front cover. Two flaps integral with the back cover enclose the top side portion of the book and are secured to the front cover. A specially prepared friction strip is mounted to the lower portion of the front cover. A slot is provided in the cover retainer, and the strip is positioned under the slot.

United States Patent Seldin MATCH BOOK WITH ENCLOSED MATCH HEADS ANDSAFETY FRICTION STRIP [72] Inventor: Morey Seldin, 2455 Via Lazo, PalmSprings, Calif. 92262 22] Filed: Aug. 12,1970

21 Appl.No.: 63,120

[52] US. Cl ..206/29 [51] Int. Cl. ..A24f 27/00 [58] Field of Search..206/29, 33, DIG. 18

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,107,892 2/ 1938 Gold..206/29 2,105,141 1/1938 Eastman ..206/29 Swain ...206/29 [451 Sept.12, 1972 2,620,920 12/ l 952 Hill ..206/29 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 276,179 8/ l 927 Great Britain ..206/29 PrimaryExaminerJoseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-John M. CaskieAttorney-Woodard, Weikart, Emhardt & Naughton {5 7] ABSTRACT A matchbook with flaps enclosing the match heads, and with a safety frictionstrip mounted to the front cover. Two flaps integral with the back coverenclose the top side portion of the book and are secured to the frontcover. A specially prepared friction strip is mounted to the lowerportion of the front cover. A slot is provided in the cover retainer,and the strip is positioned under the slot.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 12 m2 INVENTOR Morey S e [din 1H2? tor-Regs 1 MATCH BOOK WITH ENCLOSED MATCH HEADS AND SAFETY FRICTIONSTRIP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thisinvention is in the field of safety match books.

2. Description of the Prior Art I Safety match books are open on bothsides, thereby exposing the match heads. It is therefore quite possiblethat a spark may be carried by the wind, contacting the match head andresulting in unexpected ignition. These same match books typically havea specially prepared friction surface mounted to the cover retainer. Itis therefore also quite possible that a match may be extracted from thebook and struck against the friction surface without first engaging thefront cover with the retainer. In this latter case, a spark may fly fromthe ignited match and ignite the remaining matches within the book. Fromthe above background, it can be seen that there is a need fora safetybook having means for enclosing and protecting the match heads. There isalso a need for a safety match book having the specially preparedfriction surface mounted in such a way that the front cover must firstbe engaged with the retainer prior to striking. In addition, thematchbook should automatically enclose the match heads whenever the frontcover is engaged with the retainer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is a safety match book. A backcover integrally connected to a front cover has two flaps. These flapsextend from the back cover around the top side portion of the book andare secured to the front cover, thereby enclosing the match heads. Aspecially prepared friction strip is mounted to the bottom portion ofthe front cover. A slot is provided in the front cover retainer, and isarranged so that the strip is positioned thereunder whenever the frontcover is engaged with the retainer.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety match bookhaving means for enclosing and protecting the match heads.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a safetymatch book which has a specially prepared friction strip mounted in sucha way that the front cover must first be engaged with the retainer priorto striking the match head.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety matchbook which automatically encloses the match heads whenever the frontcover is engaged with the retainer.

Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an end perspective view of asafety match book incorporating the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view looking in the direction of arrows 2-2 of Fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the match book of Fig. 1, showing thefront cover disengaged from the bottom retainer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT For the purposes of promoting anunderstanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now besafety match book is shown having a front cover 11 integrally joined toa back cover 12 along the top 13 of the match book. A retainer 14 isintegrally joined to the bottom of back cover 12 and extends upward overthe lower portion of front cover 11. Fastening devices 15, 16 and 17,such as staples, firmly secure the bottoms 19 of matches 18 betweenretainer 14 and back cover 12. As is well known, front cover 11 may bedisengaged from retainer '14, and a match 18 may be taken from. the bookby tearing the match from its bottom 19.

Integrally attached to the top portion on both sides of back cover 12are flaps 20 and 21. These flaps are made from paper or cardboard, beingof the same material as the front and back covers. Flaps 20 and 21 haveends 25 and 26 which abut against and are secured to front cover 11.Ends 25 and 26 are attached to the outside surface of front cover 1 l bymeans of adhesives or other suitable means. Flaps 20 and 21 close offthe top side portions of book 10, thereby protecting the heads 24 ofmatches 18. The flaps are sufficiently wide so as to extend below thebottoms of the match heads 18. Thus, when viewing the match books fromthe side (Fig. 2), the match heads are not visible. It can beappreciated that when striking a match from the ordinary safety matchbook, it is possible to ignite the matches still within the book, sincethe heads are exposed through the sides of the match book. Likewise, aspark from another source, carried by the wind, may enter the sides ofthe match book, contacting the match heads and igniting the matches. Ofcourse, flaps 20 and 21 act as hoods over the match heads and preventaccidental ignition. Typically, the prior art safety match books have aspecially prepared friction surface made of phosphorus mounted to theoutside surface of the retainer 14 for contacting and igniting the matchhead. Since the composition and method for producing the matches andfriction surface are quite well known in the art, this specificationwill not elaborate thereon. 1

These prior art books allow a person to strike a match on the phosphorusretainer surface even though the front cover is not engaged with theretainer. Book 10 has a strip of phosphorus material 22 mounted to thebottom portion of front cover 11 and has a slot 23 cut through retainer14. After a match has been extracted from the book, the bottom edge ofcover 11 is placed between retainer 14 and match bottoms 19 so that thephosphorus strip 22 is positioned within slot 23. The match head maythen be struck against strip 22 through slot 23, thereby igniting thematch.

Front cover 11 is not rigid and, thus, most users will engage the coverwith retainer 14 in order to provide firm support behind strip 22 beforestriking the match. Flaps 20 and 21 will automatically be positionedaround the match heads whenever cover 11 is engaged with retainer 14.

Many variations of the above-described match book are contemplated andincluded in the present invention. For example, flaps 20 and 21 may beintegral with cover 11 and glued to back cover 12. On the other hand,flaps 20 and 21 may be glued to both covers 11 and 12. Likewise, itwould be possible to produce a safety match book having flaps 20 and 21,without slot 23. In the latter case, strip 22 would be mounted toretainer 14.

It will be apparent from the above description that the presentinvention provides a safety match book having flaps for enclosing andprotecting the match heads. It will be further apparent from the abovedescription that the above-described safety match book has thespecially'prepared friction surface mounted in such a way that the frontcover must first be engaged with the retainer prior to the striking ofthe match head.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood thatonly the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that allchanges and modifications that come within the spirit of the inventionand the scope of the claims are also desired to be protected.

1 claim:

l. A safety match book having a first open side and a second open sidecomprising:

a front cover;

a back cover connected to said front cover;

a retainer connected to said back cover and engagea: ble with said frontcover, said" retainer having a slot;

- a first flap connected to said front cover and said back cover anddisposed aboutthe top portion of said first open side;

a second flap connected to said front cover and said back cover anddisposed about the top portion of said second open side;

a friction strip mounted to said front cover and positioned under saidslot only when said front cover is engaged with said retainer and saidfirst flap and said second flap enclose the match heads, said first flapand said second flap are nonfoldable and extend from the top of saidbook to beneath the match heads, said first flap and said second flapare integral with said back cover and are secured to said front cover byadhesives.

1. A safety match book having a first open side and a second open sidecomprising: a front cover; a back cover connected to said front cover; aretainer connected to said back cover and engageable with said frontcover, said retainer having a slot; a first flap connected to said frontcover and said back cover and disposed about the top portion of saidfirst open side; a second flap connected to said front cover and saidback cover and disposed about the top portion of said second open side;a friction strip mounted to said front cover and positioned under saidslot only when said front cover is engaged with said retainer and saidfirst flap and said second flap enclose the match heads, said first flapand said second flap are nonfoldable and extend from the top of saidbook to beneath the match heads, said first flap and said second flapare integral with said back cover and are secured to said front cover byadhesives.